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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. cap — a lid
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. cap — a hat
  5. tube — a container
  6. drill — army training
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. rash — hasty
  9. march — music
  10. pit — a hole
  11. drill — the tool
  12. tube — the underground
  13. march — the month
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. pit — in a race
  16. cap — of ice
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. march — the month
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. drill — a practice
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. rash — a series

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com